Visa validation trip...
Mar 6th 2007, 6:43 pm
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,918
Visa validation trip...
Well we finally did it and we had the most awesome time of our lives.
We flew with emirates which i would highly reccommend. They gave us excellent service from the food ( little spicy ) entertainment and comfort, and i think at £2300 for 4 of us wasn't too bad. All flights and connecting flights were on time. The only thing i have to say is .....shit a brick it was a bloody long flight . Don't get me wrong i knew it would be long but the jetlagg we felt the day after was like being kicked all over and your eyeballs scratched with cats claws, but we got through it and it certainly didn't put us off.
I was dissappointed when we arrived at Sydney as i half expected them to have thier are open wide with banners saying welcome to Sydney all i got was 'take you sunglasses off' as he looked at my passport
SYDNEY
Spent the next 6 days in Sydney which was amazing. Being in a big city was very daunting especially for the kiddies. We stayed in the central Travel lodge which was just perfect. The hotel was clean and took us 10 minutes to get to Circular keys. The day we saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera house on the other was a day we wont forget it was just spectacular. We both managed to climb the bridge whist we were there, unfortunatly we had to do it seperate as the kids were too young and they provided no childcare. But we were made to feel comfortable and safe and that climb and those views will stay with me forever. We took a trip to the blue mountains the following day which were breath taking and be prepared as it is a full day. Not only did we go to the Blue mountains but the trip included a wildlife park, The Olympic stadium, a cable car ride down to the rain forest and leura. Well worth the money at £350 for the 4 of us with lunch provided. A trip to manly beach is a must and we actually had two days there as we really liked it there and it had some good surfing shops if your in to that. Definatley worth buyng all your gear out there, from flip flops to sunglasses it's cheap.
PERTH
On first impressions into Perth i have got to admit i felt dissappointed ...not really sure why, maybe i had this image in my head of lush green grass and copious ammount of lush palm tress but the grass wasn't lush and the tree's wilted but as Trev kept reminding me they were in the middle of summer with a terrible drought. But as i got further into Perth it seemed better or maybe i just got use to it.
Perth is just beautiful with the most amazing beaches that you will ever see. Crystal clear water with fish swimming through your legs.....just perfect. You do need to watch for the tide it is very strong and make sure you swim where it has a life gaurd. I am a strong swimmer and i felt my feet go under from me a few times.
We found it very easy to drive around Perth. Watch your speed limit though especially on the Freeway. The first trip down the freeway was a complete nightmare, we had a massive row and where it should have took us 20 minutes to get to kings Park it ended up taking 1 1/2 hours. Petrol is very cheap and over 16 days we only used about £ 70 worth and we did alot of driving about.
There were some fantastic places to visit...here's my favourites
1) kings Park....just an amazing park, beautiful and clean with lots of wild birds just waiting to be fed. the views of the city and the river are awesome. The park holds nighty open cinema viewing too and you can hire a beany bed and watch your favourite movie under the stars. It has BBQ areas and a childrens play area with a small cafeteria. Free parking
2)Perth zoo.....Fantastic zoo costing only $45 for 4 of us ( £ 19 ) not as big as Chester Zoo but just as good. Kids loved it , plenty of facillities with lots of drinking fountains. Great range of animals and parking once again is free.
3) Freemantle The Prison only closed 15 years ago and is incredible to see. If you have ever watched the shaw shank redemption you will know what i mean. You can either park right outside the prison or in the centre of Freemantle itself. Parking costs about 80c per hour...cheap as chips !!! the prison holds different types of tours. Ours was 1 1/4 tour cost $42 for 4 of us which i thought was great value for money. My kiddies are 9 and 6 and they loved it. The officers were great with the kids. Freemantle market has a great indoor market too which has fresh fruit, veg and fish along with clothes and gifts to buy. I could have spent a fortune but obviousley we needed to think about getting the stuff back.
4) Rottnest Island.......YOU MUST VISIT HERE !!!! only 200 people live on the island with 25 kids attending the school. The island has delivery cars only the rest of the islanders/ visitors have bicycles to get around. It has two small cafes where you get a nice lunch and a bar...watch out when buying slushes for the kids though...i bought two for my kiddies and didn't realise they were vodka slushes
5 ) Hillaries Boat harbour.....the favourite place for me.....lovely beach for the kiddies as there is no surf as such and they can paddle. Also have big play areas and a fair for them too ( although mine hate the fair) The harbour is beautiful and has a good choice of resturants and cafe for reasonable prices. Overall i thought Perth was very cheap to eat out.
So there are some of my favourite places we visited but we visited many more special places including the most amazing beaches you will see. Cottesloe had to be my favourite though . It had the best fish and chip shop in the world and battered crab sticks are a firm favourite of mine now.
We also took time to visit schools for the children, we viewed houses all over Perth from Ashby right down to Scarborough, we wanted to see what we would get for our money. I arranged a visit to Perth General and got myself a job if i want it and we also opened a bank acount, you just need to take you passport with you , easy peezy.
We were glad we visited first it gave us a good insight to what life would be like to live there. It gave us the strength we need to take the bull by the horns and live our dream. So we are now home have the house to sell and then we are off.
Leaving Perth was a very sad day for us but we know we will be back soon.
We flew with emirates which i would highly reccommend. They gave us excellent service from the food ( little spicy ) entertainment and comfort, and i think at £2300 for 4 of us wasn't too bad. All flights and connecting flights were on time. The only thing i have to say is .....shit a brick it was a bloody long flight . Don't get me wrong i knew it would be long but the jetlagg we felt the day after was like being kicked all over and your eyeballs scratched with cats claws, but we got through it and it certainly didn't put us off.
I was dissappointed when we arrived at Sydney as i half expected them to have thier are open wide with banners saying welcome to Sydney all i got was 'take you sunglasses off' as he looked at my passport
SYDNEY
Spent the next 6 days in Sydney which was amazing. Being in a big city was very daunting especially for the kiddies. We stayed in the central Travel lodge which was just perfect. The hotel was clean and took us 10 minutes to get to Circular keys. The day we saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera house on the other was a day we wont forget it was just spectacular. We both managed to climb the bridge whist we were there, unfortunatly we had to do it seperate as the kids were too young and they provided no childcare. But we were made to feel comfortable and safe and that climb and those views will stay with me forever. We took a trip to the blue mountains the following day which were breath taking and be prepared as it is a full day. Not only did we go to the Blue mountains but the trip included a wildlife park, The Olympic stadium, a cable car ride down to the rain forest and leura. Well worth the money at £350 for the 4 of us with lunch provided. A trip to manly beach is a must and we actually had two days there as we really liked it there and it had some good surfing shops if your in to that. Definatley worth buyng all your gear out there, from flip flops to sunglasses it's cheap.
PERTH
On first impressions into Perth i have got to admit i felt dissappointed ...not really sure why, maybe i had this image in my head of lush green grass and copious ammount of lush palm tress but the grass wasn't lush and the tree's wilted but as Trev kept reminding me they were in the middle of summer with a terrible drought. But as i got further into Perth it seemed better or maybe i just got use to it.
Perth is just beautiful with the most amazing beaches that you will ever see. Crystal clear water with fish swimming through your legs.....just perfect. You do need to watch for the tide it is very strong and make sure you swim where it has a life gaurd. I am a strong swimmer and i felt my feet go under from me a few times.
We found it very easy to drive around Perth. Watch your speed limit though especially on the Freeway. The first trip down the freeway was a complete nightmare, we had a massive row and where it should have took us 20 minutes to get to kings Park it ended up taking 1 1/2 hours. Petrol is very cheap and over 16 days we only used about £ 70 worth and we did alot of driving about.
There were some fantastic places to visit...here's my favourites
1) kings Park....just an amazing park, beautiful and clean with lots of wild birds just waiting to be fed. the views of the city and the river are awesome. The park holds nighty open cinema viewing too and you can hire a beany bed and watch your favourite movie under the stars. It has BBQ areas and a childrens play area with a small cafeteria. Free parking
2)Perth zoo.....Fantastic zoo costing only $45 for 4 of us ( £ 19 ) not as big as Chester Zoo but just as good. Kids loved it , plenty of facillities with lots of drinking fountains. Great range of animals and parking once again is free.
3) Freemantle The Prison only closed 15 years ago and is incredible to see. If you have ever watched the shaw shank redemption you will know what i mean. You can either park right outside the prison or in the centre of Freemantle itself. Parking costs about 80c per hour...cheap as chips !!! the prison holds different types of tours. Ours was 1 1/4 tour cost $42 for 4 of us which i thought was great value for money. My kiddies are 9 and 6 and they loved it. The officers were great with the kids. Freemantle market has a great indoor market too which has fresh fruit, veg and fish along with clothes and gifts to buy. I could have spent a fortune but obviousley we needed to think about getting the stuff back.
4) Rottnest Island.......YOU MUST VISIT HERE !!!! only 200 people live on the island with 25 kids attending the school. The island has delivery cars only the rest of the islanders/ visitors have bicycles to get around. It has two small cafes where you get a nice lunch and a bar...watch out when buying slushes for the kids though...i bought two for my kiddies and didn't realise they were vodka slushes
5 ) Hillaries Boat harbour.....the favourite place for me.....lovely beach for the kiddies as there is no surf as such and they can paddle. Also have big play areas and a fair for them too ( although mine hate the fair) The harbour is beautiful and has a good choice of resturants and cafe for reasonable prices. Overall i thought Perth was very cheap to eat out.
So there are some of my favourite places we visited but we visited many more special places including the most amazing beaches you will see. Cottesloe had to be my favourite though . It had the best fish and chip shop in the world and battered crab sticks are a firm favourite of mine now.
We also took time to visit schools for the children, we viewed houses all over Perth from Ashby right down to Scarborough, we wanted to see what we would get for our money. I arranged a visit to Perth General and got myself a job if i want it and we also opened a bank acount, you just need to take you passport with you , easy peezy.
We were glad we visited first it gave us a good insight to what life would be like to live there. It gave us the strength we need to take the bull by the horns and live our dream. So we are now home have the house to sell and then we are off.
Leaving Perth was a very sad day for us but we know we will be back soon.
Mar 6th 2007, 7:15 pm
#2
Account Closed
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 938
Re: Visa validation trip...
So,when are you planing on returning? Did you not consider QLD, Vic or SA?
Mar 6th 2007, 9:21 pm
#4
Former Resident Visa
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Mornington Peninsula
Posts: 2,887
Re: Visa validation trip...
Really informative post Issie
J x
J x
Mar 7th 2007, 9:13 am
#5
Account Closed
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,630
Re: Visa validation trip...
Great post
Mar 7th 2007, 1:38 pm
#6
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,693
Re: Visa validation trip...
Well we finally did it and we had the most awesome time of our lives.
We flew with emirates which i would highly reccommend. They gave us excellent service from the food ( little spicy ) entertainment and comfort, and i think at £2300 for 4 of us wasn't too bad. All flights and connecting flights were on time. The only thing i have to say is .....shit a brick it was a bloody long flight . Don't get me wrong i knew it would be long but the jetlagg we felt the day after was like being kicked all over and your eyeballs scratched with cats claws, but we got through it and it certainly didn't put us off.
I was dissappointed when we arrived at Sydney as i half expected them to have thier are open wide with banners saying welcome to Sydney all i got was 'take you sunglasses off' as he looked at my passport
SYDNEY
Spent the next 6 days in Sydney which was amazing. Being in a big city was very daunting especially for the kiddies. We stayed in the central Travel lodge which was just perfect. The hotel was clean and took us 10 minutes to get to Circular keys. The day we saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera house on the other was a day we wont forget it was just spectacular. We both managed to climb the bridge whist we were there, unfortunatly we had to do it seperate as the kids were too young and they provided no childcare. But we were made to feel comfortable and safe and that climb and those views will stay with me forever. We took a trip to the blue mountains the following day which were breath taking and be prepared as it is a full day. Not only did we go to the Blue mountains but the trip included a wildlife park, The Olympic stadium, a cable car ride down to the rain forest and leura. Well worth the money at £350 for the 4 of us with lunch provided. A trip to manly beach is a must and we actually had two days there as we really liked it there and it had some good surfing shops if your in to that. Definatley worth buyng all your gear out there, from flip flops to sunglasses it's cheap.
PERTH
On first impressions into Perth i have got to admit i felt dissappointed ...not really sure why, maybe i had this image in my head of lush green grass and copious ammount of lush palm tress but the grass wasn't lush and the tree's wilted but as Trev kept reminding me they were in the middle of summer with a terrible drought. But as i got further into Perth it seemed better or maybe i just got use to it.
Perth is just beautiful with the most amazing beaches that you will ever see. Crystal clear water with fish swimming through your legs.....just perfect. You do need to watch for the tide it is very strong and make sure you swim where it has a life gaurd. I am a strong swimmer and i felt my feet go under from me a few times.
We found it very easy to drive around Perth. Watch your speed limit though especially on the Freeway. The first trip down the freeway was a complete nightmare, we had a massive row and where it should have took us 20 minutes to get to kings Park it ended up taking 1 1/2 hours. Petrol is very cheap and over 16 days we only used about £ 70 worth and we did alot of driving about.
There were some fantastic places to visit...here's my favourites
1) kings Park....just an amazing park, beautiful and clean with lots of wild birds just waiting to be fed. the views of the city and the river are awesome. The park holds nighty open cinema viewing too and you can hire a beany bed and watch your favourite movie under the stars. It has BBQ areas and a childrens play area with a small cafeteria. Free parking
2)Perth zoo.....Fantastic zoo costing only $45 for 4 of us ( £ 19 ) not as big as Chester Zoo but just as good. Kids loved it , plenty of facillities with lots of drinking fountains. Great range of animals and parking once again is free.
3) Freemantle The Prison only closed 15 years ago and is incredible to see. If you have ever watched the shaw shank redemption you will know what i mean. You can either park right outside the prison or in the centre of Freemantle itself. Parking costs about 80c per hour...cheap as chips !!! the prison holds different types of tours. Ours was 1 1/4 tour cost $42 for 4 of us which i thought was great value for money. My kiddies are 9 and 6 and they loved it. The officers were great with the kids. Freemantle market has a great indoor market too which has fresh fruit, veg and fish along with clothes and gifts to buy. I could have spent a fortune but obviousley we needed to think about getting the stuff back.
4) Rottnest Island.......YOU MUST VISIT HERE !!!! only 200 people live on the island with 25 kids attending the school. The island has delivery cars only the rest of the islanders/ visitors have bicycles to get around. It has two small cafes where you get a nice lunch and a bar...watch out when buying slushes for the kids though...i bought two for my kiddies and didn't realise they were vodka slushes
5 ) Hillaries Boat harbour.....the favourite place for me.....lovely beach for the kiddies as there is no surf as such and they can paddle. Also have big play areas and a fair for them too ( although mine hate the fair) The harbour is beautiful and has a good choice of resturants and cafe for reasonable prices. Overall i thought Perth was very cheap to eat out.
So there are some of my favourite places we visited but we visited many more special places including the most amazing beaches you will see. Cottesloe had to be my favourite though . It had the best fish and chip shop in the world and battered crab sticks are a firm favourite of mine now.
We also took time to visit schools for the children, we viewed houses all over Perth from Ashby right down to Scarborough, we wanted to see what we would get for our money. I arranged a visit to Perth General and got myself a job if i want it and we also opened a bank acount, you just need to take you passport with you , easy peezy.
We were glad we visited first it gave us a good insight to what life would be like to live there. It gave us the strength we need to take the bull by the horns and live our dream. So we are now home have the house to sell and then we are off.
Leaving Perth was a very sad day for us but we know we will be back soon.
We flew with emirates which i would highly reccommend. They gave us excellent service from the food ( little spicy ) entertainment and comfort, and i think at £2300 for 4 of us wasn't too bad. All flights and connecting flights were on time. The only thing i have to say is .....shit a brick it was a bloody long flight . Don't get me wrong i knew it would be long but the jetlagg we felt the day after was like being kicked all over and your eyeballs scratched with cats claws, but we got through it and it certainly didn't put us off.
I was dissappointed when we arrived at Sydney as i half expected them to have thier are open wide with banners saying welcome to Sydney all i got was 'take you sunglasses off' as he looked at my passport
SYDNEY
Spent the next 6 days in Sydney which was amazing. Being in a big city was very daunting especially for the kiddies. We stayed in the central Travel lodge which was just perfect. The hotel was clean and took us 10 minutes to get to Circular keys. The day we saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera house on the other was a day we wont forget it was just spectacular. We both managed to climb the bridge whist we were there, unfortunatly we had to do it seperate as the kids were too young and they provided no childcare. But we were made to feel comfortable and safe and that climb and those views will stay with me forever. We took a trip to the blue mountains the following day which were breath taking and be prepared as it is a full day. Not only did we go to the Blue mountains but the trip included a wildlife park, The Olympic stadium, a cable car ride down to the rain forest and leura. Well worth the money at £350 for the 4 of us with lunch provided. A trip to manly beach is a must and we actually had two days there as we really liked it there and it had some good surfing shops if your in to that. Definatley worth buyng all your gear out there, from flip flops to sunglasses it's cheap.
PERTH
On first impressions into Perth i have got to admit i felt dissappointed ...not really sure why, maybe i had this image in my head of lush green grass and copious ammount of lush palm tress but the grass wasn't lush and the tree's wilted but as Trev kept reminding me they were in the middle of summer with a terrible drought. But as i got further into Perth it seemed better or maybe i just got use to it.
Perth is just beautiful with the most amazing beaches that you will ever see. Crystal clear water with fish swimming through your legs.....just perfect. You do need to watch for the tide it is very strong and make sure you swim where it has a life gaurd. I am a strong swimmer and i felt my feet go under from me a few times.
We found it very easy to drive around Perth. Watch your speed limit though especially on the Freeway. The first trip down the freeway was a complete nightmare, we had a massive row and where it should have took us 20 minutes to get to kings Park it ended up taking 1 1/2 hours. Petrol is very cheap and over 16 days we only used about £ 70 worth and we did alot of driving about.
There were some fantastic places to visit...here's my favourites
1) kings Park....just an amazing park, beautiful and clean with lots of wild birds just waiting to be fed. the views of the city and the river are awesome. The park holds nighty open cinema viewing too and you can hire a beany bed and watch your favourite movie under the stars. It has BBQ areas and a childrens play area with a small cafeteria. Free parking
2)Perth zoo.....Fantastic zoo costing only $45 for 4 of us ( £ 19 ) not as big as Chester Zoo but just as good. Kids loved it , plenty of facillities with lots of drinking fountains. Great range of animals and parking once again is free.
3) Freemantle The Prison only closed 15 years ago and is incredible to see. If you have ever watched the shaw shank redemption you will know what i mean. You can either park right outside the prison or in the centre of Freemantle itself. Parking costs about 80c per hour...cheap as chips !!! the prison holds different types of tours. Ours was 1 1/4 tour cost $42 for 4 of us which i thought was great value for money. My kiddies are 9 and 6 and they loved it. The officers were great with the kids. Freemantle market has a great indoor market too which has fresh fruit, veg and fish along with clothes and gifts to buy. I could have spent a fortune but obviousley we needed to think about getting the stuff back.
4) Rottnest Island.......YOU MUST VISIT HERE !!!! only 200 people live on the island with 25 kids attending the school. The island has delivery cars only the rest of the islanders/ visitors have bicycles to get around. It has two small cafes where you get a nice lunch and a bar...watch out when buying slushes for the kids though...i bought two for my kiddies and didn't realise they were vodka slushes
5 ) Hillaries Boat harbour.....the favourite place for me.....lovely beach for the kiddies as there is no surf as such and they can paddle. Also have big play areas and a fair for them too ( although mine hate the fair) The harbour is beautiful and has a good choice of resturants and cafe for reasonable prices. Overall i thought Perth was very cheap to eat out.
So there are some of my favourite places we visited but we visited many more special places including the most amazing beaches you will see. Cottesloe had to be my favourite though . It had the best fish and chip shop in the world and battered crab sticks are a firm favourite of mine now.
We also took time to visit schools for the children, we viewed houses all over Perth from Ashby right down to Scarborough, we wanted to see what we would get for our money. I arranged a visit to Perth General and got myself a job if i want it and we also opened a bank acount, you just need to take you passport with you , easy peezy.
We were glad we visited first it gave us a good insight to what life would be like to live there. It gave us the strength we need to take the bull by the horns and live our dream. So we are now home have the house to sell and then we are off.
Leaving Perth was a very sad day for us but we know we will be back soon.
7 weeks to Perth reccie...
HoHo
Dave
Mar 7th 2007, 2:12 pm
#7
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 1,217
Re: Visa validation trip...
Great post. Glad you had a lovely time.
Mar 8th 2007, 7:40 am
#10
Take it easy
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 10,182
Re: Visa validation trip...
Glad it all went well, and hope the final lap goes smoothly for you
Carl
Mar 8th 2007, 7:48 am
#11
Pasta Fari
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Northants
Posts: 454
Re: Visa validation trip...
Not there yet. Application lodged last month. If accepted, and if we decide to go for it, we're waiting until our daughters' A Levels and GCSEs are finished in 2008.
Karl
Mar 8th 2007, 8:34 am
#12
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,918
Re: Visa validation trip...
How does you daughter feel about the move...excited ?
Mar 8th 2007, 8:49 am
#13
Living the Dream!
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Cleveland
Posts: 6,515
Re: Visa validation trip...
I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip Issie, now come on I'll race ya on the house sale! 
jackie x
jackie x
Mar 8th 2007, 8:53 am
#14
Pasta Fari
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Northants
Posts: 454
Re: Visa validation trip...
Thanks. Youngest wants to go. Eldest is a born worrier, and it's not so clear cut in her case. She also wants to be a vet. Then there's us - we'll be 46 (me) and 42 (Ann) next year. Pretty old to be starting from scratch, and a big financial risk too.
It'll basically come down to gut reaction if we ever get the visa granted. If we're both jumping up and down - we're off! If one or both of us is undecided - we're staying here.
Karl
It'll basically come down to gut reaction if we ever get the visa granted. If we're both jumping up and down - we're off! If one or both of us is undecided - we're staying here.
Karl
Mar 8th 2007, 8:58 am
#15
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,918
Re: Visa validation trip...
Thanks. Youngest wants to go. Eldest is a born worrier, and it's not so clear cut in her case. She also wants to be a vet. Then there's us - we'll be 46 (me) and 42 (Ann) next year. Pretty old to be starting from scratch, and a big financial risk too.
It'll basically come down to gut reaction if we ever get the visa granted. If we're both jumping up and down - we're off! If one or both of us is undecided - we're staying here.
Karl
It'll basically come down to gut reaction if we ever get the visa granted. If we're both jumping up and down - we're off! If one or both of us is undecided - we're staying here.
Karl
so god knows how she will be.I still get waves of doubt but i think most guys will confirm that it is relatively normal to feel like this.
As my Mum said yesterday.......don't live your life with any regrets...go for it and if it doesn't work out you can come home with your head held high and said ' we tried it ' but it's not for us.
Are you heading for Perth yourself ?